My Glitched World Throne System Came Ten Years Too Early!

Of all the things that could have gone wrong, this was certainly one of the worst.

Mages, no matter the rank, could absolutely devastate a war.

Numbers didn’t matter to them in the slightest.

And neither did castle walls.

’Only the Royal Family and the Magic Towers are allowed to have mages under their command for that exact reason!’ Roderic thought, already swearing internally.

Even the archive hadn’t mentioned a mage participating in the war.

It didn’t take longer than a second for him to realize who was behind this stunt.

’That damn second prince! Does he not know there’ll be consequences for this?!’

BANG!

One of the officers, a Two-Seal Knight by the name of George, slammed his fist on the table.

’’This is outrageous!’’ he shouted angrily. ’’It’s like we’re fighting the whole damn kingdom!’’

’’Just when the scales were tipping in our favor...’’ another officer, a Two-Seal Knight named Henry, said grimly.

Arthur remained silent, his gaze fixed on the map.

’’My lord,’’ George continued. ’’We should immediately report this to the Royal Court! If they’re willing to violate the kingdom’s laws so openly, then surely His Majesty will intervene!’’

’’And how exactly do you propose we do that?’’ Henry interrupted. ’’By the time a messenger reaches the capital, this war could already be over!’’

George jumped up from his seat.

’’That doesn’t mean we should do nothing!’’ he replied frantically. ’’Maybe we could reconsider asking the neighboring barons for support! Even the viscounties!’’

’’They’d never help us, you know that just as well as I do,’’ Henry said, shaking his head.

The other officers remained silent, seemingly agreeing with Henry’s assessment.

A heavy silence fell inside the room.

’’Alright,’’ Arthur finally spoke up.

He turned towards Finn, his expression dead serious.

’’Tell me, did you happen to see the mage use any other spells?’’

Finn immediately shook his head.

’’No, my lord,’’ he replied. ’’After burning the corpses, he simply returned to the commanders.’’

Arthur nodded once.

’’And how large were the fireballs he used?’’ he asked slowly.

Finn remained silent for a moment.

His gaze slowly drifted to the ceiling as his mind visibly churned.

’’Quite large, my lord,’’ he finally replied. ’’I’d say each was roughly the size of a horse...? And there were five of them.’’

Arthur’s expression darkened even further.

’’Thank you,’’ he said, waving his hand. ’’You’ve been dismissed. Go get some rest now.’’

Finn bowed respectfully.

’’Understood, my lord,’’ he said before turning towards the door.

However, just as he opened the door, he glanced back at Roderic.

A cheerful smile appeared on his face before he nodded once.

With that, he stepped outside and quietly closed the door behind him.

Roderic felt a shiver run down his spine.

’Creepy bastard...’

But he didn’t get much time to think about Finn.

Arthur had already started talking once more.

’’Judging by the size and number of those fireballs, we’re most likely dealing with a Second-Circle Mage,’’ he said grimly. ’’Possibly even a Third-Circle Mage.’’

The officers exchanged worried glances.

’’A Third-Circle Mage?!’’ George exclaimed. ’’My lord, are you certain?’’

Arthur shook his head lightly.

’’I haven’t seen the man myself,’’ he said. ’’But I’d rather overestimate his strength than underestimate it.’’

The meeting dragged on for nearly another half hour.

While the officers continued their discussion, Roderic remained unusually quiet.

His attention was entirely focused on finding a way to eliminate this unexpected threat.

He didn’t even notice when all the officers left the war room!

’’So?’’ Arthur’s voice rang out. ’’What do you think?’’

Snapping out of his thoughts, Roderic slowly glanced up.

After a moment, a smile grew on his face.

’’Let me ask you a question,’’ he said. ’’How confident are you in holding the walls for a single day?’’

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

’’That depends on a lot of things,’’ he replied, his voice low. ’’If they go all-out from the start—’’

’’They won’t,’’ Roderic interrupted. ’’Their soldiers marched through the night. They’ll need to rest first.’’

For a moment, the room remained silent.

Arthur glanced down slightly, his mind churning.

’’In that case,’’ he eventually said, ’’I believe we can hold them off for a day.’’

The smile on Roderic’s face only grew wider.

’’Good,’’ he said, pushing himself up. ’’I’ll make sure the mage disappears after that.’’

Arthur stared at him in utter disbelief.

’’You’re going to kill that mage?’’ he asked slowly.

Roderic nodded casually.

’’That’s the plan,’’ he replied, already walking to the exit.

The door opened without Arthur even having processed his words.

Roderic stopped for a moment, waving at him with a smile.

’’I’ll talk to you later,’’ he said.

Finally snapping out of his daze, Arthur quickly pushed himself up.

’’Roderic!’’

But Roderic had long disappeared into the hallway.

Arthur remained standing beside the table, staring at the closed door.

’’That brat...’’ he muttered quietly.

Meanwhile, Roderic was already making his way through the estate.

His earlier smile had completely disappeared.

Although he’d sounded confident in front of his father, dealing with a mage was no laughing matter.

Especially one whose strength remained unknown.

Fortunately, he had no intention of fighting the bastard head-on.

That would be downright suicidal.

Instead, he needed to make use of what he already had.

And for that, there was one particular place he needed to visit.

’The blacksmith,’ he thought, quickening his pace.

Several civilians greeted him excitedly as he passed, but Roderic barely acknowledged them.

He had already wasted more than enough time in the war room.

Before long, the familiar sound of hammering reached his ears.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

A thick cloud of smoke rose from the blacksmith’s workshop.

Several workers were busy hammering away at pieces of heated metal when Roderic stepped inside.

’’Is the old man in?’’ he called out.

The hammering gradually stopped as workers turned to look at him.

Before long, a familiar old man appeared from around the corner, a box of caltrops in his arms.

’’Young master,’’ he greeted with a smile. ’’To what do I owe the pleasure?’’

’’I just came to check up on how things have been going,’’ Roderic replied casually.

The old man let out a snort as he roughly placed the crate down.

’’Things could’ve been better if a certain young master wasn’t working us to the bone,’’ he said, brushing the dust off his body.

Roderic let out a soft chuckle.

’’Well, war does things to us all,’’ he remarked, walking further inside.

’’So I’ve heard,’’ the old man replied with a grin. ’’Your great exploits have become quite the talk around the city, you know.’’

Roderic rolled his eyes.

’’Nice to know everyone’s still in such high spirits,’’ he replied.

The old man burst into laughter.

’’Hahaha! You’ve certainly changed, young master!’’

’’Anyway,’’ Roderic interrupted, his expression growing serious. ’’I actually came here for something specific.’’

He stepped closer, lowering his voice.

’’That thing I asked you to build. How’s the progress on it?’’

The old man’s smile immediately disappeared.

He glanced towards the other workers before nodding towards the back of the workshop.

’’Follow me.’’

Without another word, he turned around.

Roderic followed him through the workshop, passing several furnaces and piles of unfinished equipment.

Eventually, they arrived at a large metal door.

Unlike the rest of the workshop, this section was completely sealed off.

Several heavy locks hung from the door.

The old man pulled out a ring of keys and began unlocking them one by one.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

After removing the final lock, he pushed the heavy door open.

’’After you, young master.’’

Roderic stepped inside.

The old man followed, discreetly closing the door behind them.

And there, standing in the center of the torch-lit room, was a massive ballista.

Its enormous wooden frame was reinforced with thick iron plates, while a long metal track ran along its center.

Even Roderic couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

’’Beautiful...’’ he muttered.

’’It’s almost finished,’’ the old man said proudly. ’’It just needs a few finishing touches, and it’ll be ready.’’

Roderic turned towards him, scratching the back of his head.

’’Well, then you’d better get to work,’’ he replied. ’’I’ll need it by tonight.’’

The old man’s mouth fell open.

’’TONIGHT?!’’ he exclaimed. ’’Young master, are you serious?!’’

Roderic nodded once.

’’Completely.’’

’’But we still need to—’’

’’Oh, and another thing,’’ Roderic interrupted. ’’We can mount it on top of a horse-drawn wagon, right?’’

The old man blinked.

’’Well... yes. We’d need to reinforce the wagon, but it’s certainly possible.’’

A wide grin spread across Roderic’s face.

’’Perfect!’’

He walked around the massive weapon once more before turning back.

’’Make sure it’s ready by tonight, mounted on a wagon. Use as many workers as you need.’’

The old man rubbed his forehead.

’’You’re going to be the death of me someday, young master...’’ he muttered weakly.

Roderic couldn’t help but chuckle.

’’Don’t worry so much,’’ he said. ’’I’ll make sure to compensate you properly once this war is over!’’

With that, Roderic headed towards the door.

The old man could only sigh as he watched him leave.

’’Back to work, then...’’

Meanwhile, Roderic stepped outside the workshop, looking rather pleased with himself.

One preparation was nearly complete.

Now came the next.

’Time to inform my retainers about our little... night journey.’